Schuylkill West Bank lies in the bow of the Schuylkill River between the Spring Garden and South Street Bridges. While it has been overshadowed in the past by the growth of Center City to the east and the excitement of campus life to the west, this area has considerable potential of its own for future development. With the presence of 30th Street Station, Schuylkill West Bank functions as the regional hub of the AMTRAK Northeast Corridor rail lines and the suburban commuter rail lines. Additionally, the area is a major interchange location for the Interstate Highway System. The location of these combined uses ties Schuylkill West Bank to the rest of the eastern seaboard and lends considerable advantage to Center City as a competitive urban center.
The district covers approximately one-third of a square mile, with the majority of the land dedicated to transportation and distribution. Most buildings and properties are very large. Railroad operations occupy most of the land north of Market Street, and the U.S. Postal Service uses the equivalent of four large city blocks for a post office, the regional headquarters, and parking, loading and vehicle servicing. The campuses of Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania are located on the western edge of the Schuylkill West Bank district.
In recent years, developments were planned, and then postponed, for two major sites in the district. The larger site is the 60-acre rail yard located immediately north of Thirtieth Street Station. The other site is a 14-acre surface parking facility on the south side of Walnut Street at Thirtieth Street which is owned and operated by the U.S. Postal Service. Despite the stops and starts on these projects, both sites are considered to be important development opportunities for the future.
Thirtieth Street Station is the major landmark in the Schuylkill West Bank district. An average of over 23,000 AMTRAK and SEPTA customers utilize the station every day, making it second only to New York's Pennsylvania Station in the number of inter-city passengers who get on and off AMTRAK trains. This makes it the busiest of all inter-city terminals remaining from the years before World War II. The 58-year old station was recently renovated at a cost of $80 million, and is our City's most attractive gateway. Upon exiting the beautifully restored waiting room on the 29th Street side, the traveller to Philadelphia sees the Schuylkill River with its series of highway bridges connecting to downtown, and in the foreground, a vista of the Center City skyline.
"The Market At Thirtieth Street Station" is a major new retail and food emporium that recently opened inside the station, between the waiting room and Market Street. It is a very attractive collection of over twenty retail shops and restaurants. The unique market serves travellers, nearby workers and residents, and it demonstrates the value and amenity of mixed-use development.
The headquarters building for the Postal Service is located just across Market Street from Thirtieth Street Station. The post office is a grand, monumental structure that is similar in scale to Thirtieth Street Station. Fifty-eight hundred (5,800) employees work at the Postal Service complex, and an additional 2,000 jobs are generated by Thirtieth Street Station. While employment is concentrated here at 30th and Market Streets, the remainder of the district generates little economic activity.
Underutilization of property is a key characteristic of the Schuylkill West Bank district -- especially in relation to its strategic location. Five large commercial/industrial buildings (all located between JFK Boulevard and Walnut Street) are vacant or available, and 52 acres of land is used for surface parking. Underutilization is also borne out by the recent plans for developing air rights at the rail yards and the Postal Service parking lot.
With recent improvements to the Schuylkill Expressway, the Vine Street Expressway and the Walnut Street viaduct, car and truck traffic is well facilitated in the district. However, pedestrian movement is not well provided for, and pedestrians are often pitted against the vehicle. This is a significant problem. The pedestrian environment in Schuylkill West Bank is bleak and desolate. Students who are walking or bicycling between the universities and Center City experience a cold, windswept journey past parking lots, parking garages, blank walls and idle buildings. The thousands of employees who work here do not have attractive places to sit down outside or take a pleasant stroll. Area residents who want to walk to Thirtieth Street Station's new shops and restaurants have no alternative but to use routes that are unattractive and poorly lit. Storefronts and street trees, which can enliven and humanize the sidewalk environment, are non-existent in the area.
Recommendations for Schuylkill West Bank are intended to make the district look and function in ways that correspond to the importance of the location. The recommendations call for greatly increased economic activity along with major efforts to improve the aesthetic and pedestrian environments. In the future, Schuylkill West Bank should be a gateway to Center City and West Philadelphia both symbolically and functionally. The district should make an effective transition between University City to the west and Center City to the east.
The rail yard site should become an intensive urban center containing office buildings, housing, hotels, shopping and recreation. This site has the capacity to support 30 million square feet of new development. It boasts a dramatic setting on the Schuylkill River and excellent access to regional rail and highway networks.
As stated in The Plan for Center City, "developing the rail yards by building over the existing tracks will be one of the largest and most complex building projects in the history of Philadelphia." This is an opportunity to build not just one or two buildings on a site but to create an entirely new urban area with its own streets and public spaces with new buildings, each containing a variety of uses. Buildings constructed over the rail yard should be designed to take advantage of views of the Schuylkill River, the Art Museum and the Center City skyline.
Sites on the western bank nearest the river should be developed with relatively low structures such as hotels and residences and for public open space. The central part of the site is more appropriate for taller structures overlooking the lower-scaled buildings with panoramic views toward the east and west. A wide, landscaped street should be built to the north of the station to provide access to the site and to protect views of the Art Museum.
Of even greater significance to the community of West Philadelphia is the manner in which this large development physically relates to the existing neighborhoods, particularly Powelton and Mantua. The western edge of this new development must serve as the transition zone between the existing residential community and the higher density core of the development. Low-rise housing, shops and open space are recommended for this edge as a way of softening the impact of new development.
In order to provide continuity at the ground level, the City's traditional grid street pattern should be continued into this development area. This will ensure the integration of the new development into the fabric of the City.
Irrespective of when rail yard overbuild development begins, it is clear that full build-out will not be realized for a period of many years, perhaps two decades or more. Implementing these goals within the context of such an ambitious, long-term project will require the creation of new zoning tools such as "Master Plan Zoning." Master Plan Zoning on the rail yard overbuild area would permit high-density, mixed-use development as part of a comprehensive development proposal. Within this Master Plan District there may be divisions into "Precincts" which would be subject to specific controls like building density and use, public space requirements, parking and loading. The "Master Plan District" may also encourage shared support facilities such as parking and service drives, with below grade truck and trash handling. Additionally, increased building density might be supported in exchange for the inclusion of amenities like public art and day care facilities.
This site offers an exceptional opportunity for enhancing the sidewalk environment because of the presence of a lower-level street system beneath the elevated Walnut Street viaduct. Many vehicular movements, including service delivery traffic, can take place at the lower level and avoid conflicts with passersby. The pedestrian experience on Walnut Street can be further enhanced by (1) building to the street line, (2) limiting the number of curb cuts, (3) maximizing ground floor retail space and (4) encouraging multiple building entrances to the sidewalk.
As development moves forward, it will become increasingly important to improve the north/south pedestrian connections to the rest of the district. The two most significant paths in this respect will be 30th Street and Schuylkill Avenue. The treatment of sidewalks should include the widening and landscaping of 30th Street from Market to Walnut Streets. Trees should be planted in a new border on the west side of the block between Market and Chestnut Streets. The sidewalk along Schuylkill Avenue should also be widened and landscaped, thus creating a pedestrian route of choice with views of the Center City skyline across the river's edge.
Defining the side walls of this outdoor public room has already begun with the improvements made to the 30th Street Station. However, the south side of Market Street at this location is cluttered with a motley collection of vendors and poorly organized movement systems for pedestrians and vehicles. At the eastern end of the Grand Public Room, the Market Street Bridge is elegant but neglected. Simple maintenance should improve the impression of the area as well as the importance of the bridge itself. A lighting plan should be designed to light the foot-way of the bridge and to highlight the remarkable socialist-realist sculpture of the flanking eagles located at both ends of the bridge.
In addition, a plan should be undertaken to redesign the sidewalk and drive that is situated between Market Street and the post office. Pedestrian use should be emphasized here and, at minimum, vendor businesses should be required to meet design standards and possibly relocated to Schuylkill Avenue. The south side of Market Street should mirror the improvements that were recently completed at Thirtieth Street Station. Flags and poles complementing those on the station should be added along the post office edge to strengthen the sense of importance of the space. Plant material should be considered for both the north and south sides of the street and an overall lighting plan should be designed. The color of the lighting should be the same throughout the area, including the bridge, and should be considered in relation to the color of the surrounding architecture. Curbs and paving should also announce that this outdoor public room is in fact the ceremonial gateway to West Philadelphia.
Finally to complete the public room, a major development on the existing parking lot and plaza at the NW corner of 30th and Market Streets is recommended. A new building should be designed without a setback from the corner. The size of the building should be consistent with the large scale of nearby structures, and it should contain retail uses on the ground floor. This will add definition and closure to the public room, making it an impressive ante-chamber to West Philadelphia.
Many cities worldwide take greater advantage of their bridges as design objects: the Ponte Vecchio, La Fontanhka, Pont Alexandre III, London Bridge to name a few. In Philadelphia, the Schuylkill River bridges should be exploited for their potential as pedestrian bridges with cosmopolitan flair. Other Schuylkill River bridges could also be considered for this relatively inexpensive kind of civic improvement project.
One of the bridges that would be utilized in the trail system is the Spring Garden Street bridge. The sidewalks on this span are less than five feet wide, making passage dangerous. The City should help fund engineering studies that look at the feasibility of widening the sidewalks on this bridge.
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